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322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
The 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command stationed at Kingsley Field, Oregon. It was inactivated on 1 July 1968. History Activated in the summer of 1942 as part of I Fighter Command. Flew early-model Republic P-47B Thunderbolts as part of the air defense of New York in the early part of World War II. Became a P-47D Thunderbolt Operational training unit (OTU), being stationed in New England, then reassigned to III Fighter Command and moved to North Carolina in 1943 as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Inactivated on 1 May 1944 as part of a reorganization of training units. Reactivated in 1955 at Larson AFB, Washington where the squadron was equipped with F-86D Sabre Interceptors. Was upgraded to the North American F-86L Sabre, an improved version of the F-86D which incorporated the Semi Automatic Ground Environment, or SAGE computer-controlled direction system for intercepts. The service of the F-86L destined to be quite brief, since by the time the last F-86L conversion was delivered, the type was already being phased out in favor of supersonic interceptors. Moved to Kingsley Field, Oregon in 1959 and was re-equipped with new McDonnell F-101B Voodoo supersonic interceptor, and the F-101F operational and conversion trainer. The two-seat trainer version was equipped with dual controls, but carried the same armament as the F-101B and were fully combat-capable. Operated the Voodoos until July 1968, the aircraft being passed along to the Air National Guard and the squadron inactivated as part of the general drawdown of the ADC active-duty interceptor force. Lineage * Constituted 322d Fighter Squadron on 24 June 1942 : Activated on 19 August 1942 : Disbanded on 10 April 1944 * Reconstituted, and redesignated 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, on 20 June 1955 : Activated on 18 August 1955, receiving assets from inactivated 31st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron IAW ADC "Project Arrow". : Inactivated 1 July 1968 Note: "Project Arrow" was an Air Defense imitative in 1955 to reactivate and re-designate notable World War II units. Assignments * I Interceptor Command :: 326th Fighter Group, 19 August 1942 – 10 April 1944 * Air Defense Command : 9th Air Division, 18 August 1955 : 4721st Air Defense Group, 1 December 1956 : 408th Fighter Group, 1 April 1959 – 1 July 1968 Stations * Mitchel Field, New York, 19 August 1942 * Bradley Field, Connecticut, 1 September 1942 * Westover Field, Massachusetts, 1 November 1942 * Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 13 October 1943 – 10 April 1944 * Larson AFB, Washington, 18 August 1955 * Kingsley Field, Oregon, 1 April 1959 – 1 July 1968 Aircraft * P-47 Thunderbolt, 1942–1944 * F-86D Sabre Interceptor, 1955–1957 * F-86L Sabre Interceptor (SAGE), 1957–1959 * F-101B Voodoo, 1959–1968 References * A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Maurer, Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force: World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1982. * USAF Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1). Category:Military units and formations of the United States in World War II Category:Fighter squadrons of the United States Air Force Night Fighter 0322